A cellar on the Petri road working two grapes almost nobody else in the zone bottles, the white Sklava and Kydonitsa, alongside its Agiorgitiko and Moschofilero.
Why locals love it: Sklava is a rare Peloponnesian white and this is one of the few addresses in Nemea where you can taste it at the source.
Tip: Petri sits above the plain, so combine the visit with the drive up towards Asprokampos rather than doubling back into town.
Address: 2nd km Nemea to Petri road, 20500 Nemea, Corinthia, Greece
A single grape cellar on the Galatas road that keeps to Agiorgitiko and nothing else, and opens seven days a week at a time when most of the zone works by appointment only.
Why locals love it: Seven day opening on a back road four kilometres out of town, with no tour operator sending coaches to the door.
Tip: Being open on Sunday makes this the fallback when the rest of the villages have shut for the weekend.
A long standing Archaies Kleones cellar pouring Agiorgitiko and Moschofilero, and one of the houses the producers association puts forward when the September festival opens its tasting programme.
Why locals love it: Archaies Kleones is the first village on the way in from Corinth and gets driven straight through by anyone heading for the town.
Tip: Visits are by arrangement. The village also holds the temple of Herakles, which the modern games use as a race start.
A family cellar at Archaies Kleones working 80 stremmata of its own vines plus fruit from fifteen selected growers. The range runs from the Rizes and Oneirou Odos labels to an Agiorgitiko matured in amphora.
Why locals love it: Open six days a week until seven in the evening, which almost nothing else in the zone is, and the amphora red is the only one of its kind here.
Tip: Ring ahead on the mobile rather than emailing. The tasting room is small and the family runs it themselves.
A boutique cellar at Leontio built on top of a vine nursery. Georgios Raptis supplied American resistant rootstock across the zone, and the family now bottles Chnaria, Kokkinovrachos and Mavri Spilia off its own land.
Why locals love it: Leontio is off the main road and most visitors never turn up it, yet the nursery behind the cellar supplied half the zone's replanting.
Tip: Book the tasting through the estate's visit form. During the September festival Raptis runs its own vineyard party and barrel sessions.
A Koutsi cellar that doubles as a gallery: the reception room holds a permanent collection of painting and sculpture, and the underground cave keeps back vintages that have sold out everywhere else.
Why locals love it: The estate ran an international wine label art competition and hung the results, so a tasting here comes with a small museum attached.
Tip: Ask to go down to the underground cave. Old vintages that have gone from the market are sold from there by the bottle.
A grower family on Pindou street in the town itself, farming 180 stremmata and bottling twelve labels, about 300,000 bottles a year, from Agiorgitiko through Kydonitsa and Malagousia.
Why locals love it: It sits inside the town rather than out among the vines, so visitors driving the village route pass it without noticing there is a cellar there.
Tip: The seminars and tasting sessions are booked through the estate's visit page, and there is a shop on site for direct sales.
